Equality Federation won’t stop until all LGBTQ+ people are fully empowered and represented in their communities, experiencing full equality in their lives.
Recently, several of our member organizations welcomed new leadership to their teams. These incredible leaders will help to expand our movement in bigger and brighter ways across the country. Let’s congratulate our member organizations and welcome these new leaders!
At Equality Federation, we know how tough it can be to work in the South. That's why, for years, we've been facilitating, supporting, and growing partnerships and collaborations across the region that strengthen our state groups and accelerate the progress we've been making.
It’s almost here. Equality Federation Institute Summer Meeting 2014: the premier gathering of LGBT movement leaders. This is your chance to connect with 150 of your friends and colleagues -- staff and board members of state-based groups, national advocates, funders, and some of the most strategic minds in the movement.
Today the Obama Administration’s Department of Education (DOE) and Department of Justice (DOJ) signed a groundbreaking letter that was sent to public schools directing them to embrace transgender students by allowing them to participate fully and use the facilities that match the gender they live every day.
In 2013, Equality California and its coalition partners successfully advocated for the passage of the School Success and Opportunity Act (AB1266), which went into effect on January 1, 2014. AB1266 ensures that schools have the guidance they need to make sure all students, including those who are transgender, have the opportunity to do well in school and graduate.
We are excited to announce the addition of two new member organizations to the Equality Federation: Gender Justice League and Wyoming Equality! Gender Justice League is a Washington State trans* and allied activist group based out of Seattle.
South Carolina Senator Lee Bright has introduced a sweeping anti-LGBTQ bill that has some similarities to the law recently passed in North Carolina, which is drawing the outrage of hundreds of corporations and small businesses alongside community and faith leaders.
The cornerstone of our Southern Leaders program is our Southern Leadership Summit, an annual gathering that brings together advocates from the region for two days of intensive workshops and discussion. Challenging legislative sessions in all the Southern states gave us a lot to talk about, and leaders shared what they’d learned so far, with many fights still going on.
On March 23, the North Carolina General Assembly held a special session to rush through—in less than 12 hours—legislation attacking the LGBTQ community. House Bill 2 abolished all local nondiscrimination laws that go beyond state law, leaving LGBTQ people unprotected across the state, and would force transgender people to use bathrooms that match the sex listed on their birth certificates in government facilities, putting them at risk of harassment and violence.
Fresh on the heels of new anti-LGBTQ smears by outside groups trying to mislead people about pending nondiscrimination legislation, Pennsylvania Governor Wolf has signed executive orders providing non-discrimination protections for members of the LGBT community employed by or contracting with the Commonwealth.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has signed into law one of the most extreme, sweeping anti-LGBT bills in the country, HB 1523. The law allows discrimination by individuals, religiously-affiliated organizations (including hospitals, schools, homeless shelters, and more), and businesses based on religious beliefs or moral convictions regarding marriage for same-sex couples; sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage; and transgender people.
One of the most extreme, sweeping anti-LGBT bills in the country, HB 1523, is making its way through the Mississippi legislature and will reach Governor Phil Bryant’s desk within days. It would allow discrimination by individuals, religiously-affiliated organizations (including hospitals, schools, homeless shelters, and more), and businesses based on religious beliefs or moral convictions regarding marriage for same-sex couples; sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage; and transgender people.
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With your support, we'll be able to continue our work to build the leaders of today and tomorrow, strengthen state-based LGBTQ+ organizations, and make critical progress on the issues that matter most—like protecting transgender people, ending HIV criminalization and ensuring access to care, and banning conversion therapy across the country.
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